Sajed Al-Maarej, a 27-year-old man from Dearborn, Michigan, has been sentenced to three years in prison for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that caused over $4 million in losses to retailers nationwide. The fraud was run through the messaging app Telegram, where Al-Maarej and his “professional refunders” impersonated buyers to secure refunds for goods while allowing the buyers to keep the items.
From September 2020 to December 2022, Al-Maarej advertised to potential buyers that they could obtain high-value goods for free by claiming refunds on undelivered or damaged products. Court records reveal that Al-Maarej’s team would falsely claim refunds to retailers, sometimes sending back boxes filled with junk or using insiders at UPS and the U.S. Postal Service to falsify tracking scans that made items appear lost or stolen.
Al-Maarej personally defrauded retailers of over $1.4 million, with one retailer alone losing more than $500,000 due to his scam. He also launched a $6,000 mentorship program in May 2022, teaching others how to set up similar fraudulent refund schemes.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has emphasized the serious nature of Al-Maarej’s crimes, which targeted major retailers, using deceptive practices to exploit and defraud businesses on a large scale.